First Response to Grief and Loss – For Practitioners Dealing with Children and Young People

First Response to Grief and Loss – For Practitioners Dealing with Children and Young People
Street Talk Limited
£39.95.
Visit: http://first-response.info/

Star ratings: 4/5

Front-line practitioners dealing with grief and loss in children and young people are likely to find this useful, writes Kelvin Karim. The 45-minute DVD is accompanied by a training manual, a practitioner’s reference card and five contact leaflets for young people.

The first part has three chapters that consider different types of loss, the grieving process and consequences of abnormal grief. The second has five chapters to help practitioners offer a first response to young people affected by grief and loss.

The DVD features interviews with the authors as well as children and young people who have experienced loss and allows for individual chapters rather than the whole DVD to be viewed. Some viewers may find the use of black and white footage in fast and slow motion together with some of the background music annoying.

The spiral-bound manual is written in a clear style and has well-presented diagrams. The reference list is dated, but practitioners may find the pullout pre-assessment checklist and flow diagram useful.

Overall, this is a quality resource that is likely to achieve its objective as an aid to practitioners in responding to the emotional distress of children and young people. Although the price tag may be prohibitive for some, access to this resource in the workplace or through a lending library is recommended.

Kelvin Karim is a TB clinical nurse specialist at Doncaster Primary Care Trust